Becky, another regular contributor here on Houzz, recently did an idea book on The Butterfly Roof. This roof is cool, unusual and architecturally interesting. Her ideabook got me thinking about all of the different types of roof shapes that there are to choose from.

This is definitely something to keep in mind when designing and building your own home. Of course, many of us move into homes that have already been built and we have to accept the shape of roof that the home comes with. Nevertheless, we can learn to pay attention to the different benefits of certain roof types when choosing and renovating our houses.

There are many different types of roofs, which you’ll start to notice as you begin to pay more attention to roofing. Many of us just think in terms of flat roofs and pitched roofs but there are many different gradations and styles of each. And this doesn’t even take into consideration the different options for roofing materials (which I’ll need to cover one day in a future ideabook!)

What is your favorite roof style?

1. Mansard Roof. This type of roof is made up of four slopes, two on each side of the home. The lower slope is a steeper, more vertical slope than the upper slope. The upper slope may or may not be visible from the ground. This French style of roof allows for additional living space or storage space at the top of the house.

2. Gambrel. This type of roof is very similar to the Mansard Roof. The core differences are that the gambrel has vertical gable ends and the roof hangs over the facade of the home whereas the Mandrel Roof does not. Additionally this one is Dutch-inspired instead of French.

3. Saltbox. This is one of my favorite roof types just because it looks so interesting from the exterior. It is an asymmetrical long pitched roof with one short side and one very long side. Often times this results in a home that is one story in height on one side of the building and two stories on the other side. What a neat design!

4. Pyramid Roof. As the name suggests, this is a type of roof that is shaped like a pyramid. We see it here on two different portions of this extravagant home. This type of roof is usually used either on small portions, like this, or on small structures such as a garage or pool house.

5. Hip Roof. This roof is very similar to the pyramid roof. The difference is that instead of coming to a point at the top the four sides meet at a ridge or a flat spot like we see here. This is architecturally more practical.

6. Bonnet Roof. This type of room is similar to the pyramid roof or hip roof. The difference, as you can see here , is that two of the slides slope out an angle. The most common purpose for this is to cover a veranda or outdoor porch area.

7. Flat Roof. This type of roof is obviously easy to identify! The benefits of a flat roof include that it’s easier to construct, safer if you’re going to stand on top of it and generally more accessible. The main drawback is that this type of roof requires more maintenance than other roofs in large part because debris will gather on the roof with nowhere to go.

8. Cross Gabled Roof. There are many types of gabled roofs (roofs that essentially look like triangles from the front of the home). I enjoy the cross gabled roof which is used in homes with extra wings so that each portion of the home has its own triangular gabled roof as seen in this photo.

9. Arched Roof. The arched roof is typically only used on a portion of the home (as seen here) but definitely adds a great aesthetic touch the architecture of the house.

10. Skillion Roof. This type of roof is a single sloping roof surface. You can think of it as just one half of a triangular roof or you can think of it as a flat roof that has been inclined slightly. It is often used on just a portion of the home. One modern architectural option is to use skillion roofing on a multi-level home to create unique shapes and patterns for the home’s exterior.